Former state representative launches Democratic bid for Maine governor

MIKE SEGAR | REUTERS | BDN

MIKE SEGAR | REUTERS | BDN

Maine State Representative and Bernie Sanders supporter Diane Russell cheers as she takes the stage on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 25, 2016.

The Democratic primary race to replace Gov. Paul LePage in 2018 attracted a seventh contender Thursday when former four-term state Rep. Diane Russell of Portland announced her candidacy.

Russell, 41, announced her candidacy by highlighting her ascent from a convenience store clerk earning $8 per hour when she first ran for the House of Representatives to a lawmaker with a relatively high profile built on advocacy for legalizing recreational marijuana and implementing ranked-choice voting in Maine.

In addition to her Maine activities, Russell has a national reputation, particularly as a critic of the party’s process of nominating presidential candidates with superdelegates who can vote for who they want regardless of how their states vote in caucuses or primaries.

At the invitation of then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Russell delivered a speech on the issue at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. But whether she will gain traction with the Democratic establishment during a primary is in question.

Russell said the focus of her tenure as governor would be helping working-class Mainers “who are getting left behind and forgotten” by advocating for higher wages, health care for all and solutions to Maine’s raging opioid addiction epidemic.

“As governor, I’ll spend every day fighting to unrig the system and make Maine a place where everyone gets a fair shot,” Russell said in a news release Thursday.

Russell brands herself as a “hardcore progressive” who favors single-payer health care, measures to ease student debt and a comprehensive approach to fighting drug addiction. She filed to run with the Maine Ethics Commission on Thursday as a privately financed candidate.

Mary Mayhew, who is LePage’s former health and human services chief, is the only Republican in the race, although others have been rumored to be interested. Independent Maine Treasurer Terry Hayes, a former Democratic lawmaker from Buckfield, is also running.